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As the Houston Dynamo continue their march up the standings, currently sitting 2nd overall and 2nd in the West, it’s due in large part to the resurgence of a young Mexican DP. Yes, Erick ‘El Cubo’ Torres, the former breakout Chivas USA striker has finally regained his form, and boy oh boy has he been electric. Cubo’s hat-trick performance against the Red Bulls on Saturday evening has more than earned him his first Offensive Player of the Week honour for week 5. Based on his current form, this probably won’t be his last.

It didn’t take long for the Dynamo to respond with an equalizer just a minute after BWP opened the scoring in the 13th minute at BBVA Compass Stadium. Just 30 minutes later though, the Cubo Show began. Torres put Houston in the lead in the 41st minute from the penalty spot, beating the fingertips of Luis Robles followed by his robot celebration. Cubo then added his second shortly after the break, whiffing on a volley attempt, then settling the ball and once again beating Robles who got a substantial touch on the shot but couldn’t hold on. Torres completed the hat-trick on another fantastic free-kick in the 90th+1. A historic hat-trick for the Mexican international, a 4-1 victory for the Dynamo, and a disappointing outing for the Red Bulls keeper who could’ve kept his team in it.

Although Luis Robles’ night ended in disaster, Bill Hamid’s certainly did not. The DC United keeper put on a show, earning DC their first win of the 2017 season as well as Defensive Player of the Week honours. There’s no denying that United have got off to a forgettable start. After not registering a single goal through their first 3 games, something had to give. So when Jose Ortiz and Lucho Acosta finally broke the streak, it fell on the shoulders of Bill Hamid to shut it down. Registering 7 saves, including an absolute stonewalling of CJ Sapong late in the game to preserve the lead, as well as 12 successful passes, 18 recoveries, a clearance and a punch, Hamid and DC held on for an impressive 2-1 victory.